Panama 199 



institutions, being eager to save a dollar wherever possible, 

 have tried to welsh out of paying their table fees on the 

 ground that we are on easy street financially. Just the re- 

 verse is true, and it looks as if the old familiar pastime of 

 making up deficits might continue. The island is now gov- 

 erned by a board consisting of the Secretaries of War, In- 

 terior, and Agriculture, and three Naturalists, with the 

 President of the National Academy of Sciences as Chair- 

 man of the Board. If it were not for the amazing wizardry 

 with which Paul Brockett weaves his way through the in- 

 tricate maze of Washington red tape and the equal skill 

 with which James Zetek treads the same path in the Canal 

 Zone, my unpaid job as the Executive Officer of the Canal 

 Zone Biological Area would be a far more arduous pastime 

 than it is. 



I was in the Canal Zone frequently between 19 16 and 

 1936 and was often included when parties were made up 

 to visit the Chillibrillo Caves on the headwaters of the Httle 

 stream of the same name. These caverns were the objective 

 of many a pleasant picnic. I went several times with Meri- 

 wether Walker and his wife, Edith, when he was Gov- 

 ernor of the Canal. We assembled at Gamboa, took a police 

 launch, went up the Chagres River, then the Chilibre, and 

 so into the Chillibrillo and to the caves. 



My hosts allowed me to wear old clothes, and I col- 

 lected in the caves while the picnic luncheon was being 

 prepared. Of course on these excursions I had first-class 

 electric lights, one on a headband and one portable. The 

 unbelievably large bat population in these caves was ex- 

 traordinary, not only for the number of individuals but 



